Pekin City Council approves $12 garbage fee to be billed quarterly on wastewater bill

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By Sharon Woods Harrisof Gatehouse Media Illinois

Journal Star

By Sharon Woods Harrisof Gatehouse Media Illinois

Posted Apr. 14, 2014 at 9:43 PM

By Sharon Woods Harrisof Gatehouse Media Illinois

Posted Apr. 14, 2014 at 9:43 PM

PEKIN — In a split vote Monday, the City Council approved a $12 garbage fee to fill a $1.6 million budget deficit.

The ordinance, as approved, also establishes a $20 fee for the solid waste department to pick up items such as furniture and appliances.

Mayor Laurie Barra and Councilmen Tim Gillespie, John Abel and John McCabe voted in favor of the garbage fee, which will be billed quarterly on the wastewater bill starting May 1. Councilmen Cody Hendricks, Lloyd Orrick and Tim Golden opposed the fee.

Councils over the years have rejected a garbage fee.

Teamsters President Keith Gleason said not enacting a garbage fee would mean a lot of cuts in services for the community. He also said that if the garbage fee passed, the council needed to look at the proposed budget and consider reinstating some of the cuts that already had been made.

Councilman Tim Golden asked Pekin City Manager Joe Wuellner if he had researched the possibility of the city providing garbage service to unincorporated areas of Pekin, as Golden previously suggested. Wuellner again told Golden that doing so would mean more trucks and more employees.

Golden then asked if a resident could opt out of garbage service, to which Wuellner said no.

Golden also added city staffers have said it would be difficult to have a variable rate based on the amount of garbage generated by a household.

“You could say the same thing for the water service,” said Golden.

“Water goes through the pipe and let’s just charge everyone a hundred dollars.

“I’m just using that as an example. I’m just saying that you have the infrastructure in place — everything is there, water is going out, but yet we meter it. So how is that a whole lot different than a garbage truck? If someone has three large cans every week and someone has a small one every month, that just doesn’t seem fair — regardless of whether the truck is going out or not.”

Barra said most flat fees aren’t fair and that if the council wants to have the garbage fee as a line item on the property tax bill, it could do so when the levy is passed in December.

Orrick questioned why the city would charge $20 to go pick up large items. Wuellner said a second employee has to be sent out with the truck to help load it. Orrick also said that the flat fee is unfair.

Gillespie said if the garbage fee was not passed, then training for employees would need to be cut, as would some city services. And those moves would only balance the budget this year.

Page 2 of 2 - “What happens next year — start laying personnel off?” he said. “How else are we going to balance the budget? Twelve dollars a month is not unreasonable. Every other community around here charges for a garbage fee. It’s a bargain for the services our citizens get.”